I was watching the San Antonio versus Phoenix game the other night and started laughing to myself - in reference to the Suns' performance, particularly on the defensive end of the floor.

While Quentin Richardson is jogging back on defense, tapping his fists at the corners of his forehead, Manu Ginobili is flying past him for a layup. While Alonzo Mourning flexes after a weak dunk, Ben Wallace beats him down the court for a dunk of his own.

It's not just that the Pistons and Spurs are the better defensive teams - you also have to factor in the point of Phoenix not caring about playing defense and Miami not being able to match up defensively with the top teams in the league.

My predictions at the beginning of the playoffs were pretty good - I had Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas and Sacramento in the West (obviously I was wrong about Seattle, but they were missing players). In the East, I had Miami, Detroit, Indiana and Chicago (the Bulls just couldn't fight through the losses of Luol Deng and Eddy Curry).

I then had the group of four who remain standing today, the best four teams in the NBA all season.

So, as I predicted in The State News last semester, Spurs in six and Pistons in six is what I'm sticking with as my picks. Unlike some columnists, other members of the media, I refuse to waver from original thoughts until they cannot come true anymore.

So back to laughing at the Suns defense. Look, I don't think it's nice to laugh at others, and it's not like San Antonio is the greatest offensive team, but they have continually put 100-plus on the Suns all season long, including the 121 they dropped on them Sunday night.

Let me ask this: If San Antonio can beat Phoenix at its own game, then how can the Suns win the series?

It's a rhetorical question - they can't and won't.

The sad part is, I love watching the Suns offense, specifically NBA MVP Steve Nash, pick apart teams. There is nothing better than watching a smooth, flowing offensive team that pushes the ball and scores at will, but you gotta play "D."

No team takes defense as seriously as the defending champs. The Pistons went to work on Indiana, holding them to an average of 79.0 points per game for a six-game series. To me, that's one of the most impressive statistics I've ever heard.

Down 2-1 to the Pacers, Detroit turned to its defense to run off three straight wins and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Wallace Brothers take care of business defensively better than any duo of big men I can remember (I'm only 22, but I've been watching the NBA for a while now).

Ben Wallace is a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, including this season's award. Rasheed Wallace is heavily underrated as a defensive player, something Pistons head coach Larry Brown mentioned earlier in the playoffs, and I agree with him wholeheartedly.

Instead of shouting "Sheed" when he touches the ball on offense, Detroit fans should do the same for him when the player he is "D"-ing up catches the ball.

Combine the "long arm of the law," Tayshaun Prince's left arm, the Wallaces, the toughness of Chauncey Billups and two solid defender's off the bench - Lindsey Hunter and Antonio McDyess - and you're looking at a defensive machine.

I don't see Dwyane Wade on the all-defensive team like I did Kobe Bryant in past years. Could it be Shaq's little helper is all offensive? We'll find out when he has to chase Richard Hamilton around. No, wait, Heat head man Stan Van Gundy probably won't make him do that; he might get tired and not be able to play offense. Put him on Billups, Prince, it doesn't matter. He will be exploited along with the other Heat who lack fire on defense.

These should not be short series because all four teams are great, but in the end, defense will rise above all. The Spurs get it and the Pistons get it, but the rest of the league seems to be slow learners.

The series that should have been last year's finals - no thanks to Derek Fisher, who rotted away in Golden State this season and hit an impossible shot in game five of the Western Conference Finals last season - will be this year's finals.

As far as who will win - I'll stick with the Pistons over the Spurs in six.

J. Ryan Mulcrone is the State News sports general assignment reporter. He can be reached at mulcron3@msu.edu.